Lake Champlain Chocolates

Old World Truffles – For those looking for a spicy kick in their truffles, these dark chocolates are just the treat. The package of six contains two each of: Spiced Sumatran, Aztec and Raspberry Pink Peppercorn flavored dark chocolate ganache covered in a layer of dark chocolate.

These Peanut Butter Cups are a more mature take on the classic candy combination. A delicate, yet not overly sweet, peanut butter layer is sandwiched between two layers of smooth milk chocolate. I’ve checked with the company and the peanut butter they use to create this confection is safe and not part of the recall. These especially hit the spot during a mid-afternoon sweet craving.

Below are just a few samples examples of little toys for the kitchen:

Boiled Egg Mold

Rice Molds

Tiny Sauce Bottles for the kid’s (or adult’s) bento box

Furikake Case
What’s Furikake? A dry seasoning to sprinkle on top of rice.

Inspired by my recent Thai cooking class, I stopped by the local Asian food mart in search of galangal, shrimp paste and fish sauce for green curry sauce. As I stood in line to pay I spotted a big bin of freeze dried durian. Normally I only make last minute impulse purchases when chocolate is involved, but having recently seen and read so much about the much-maligned fruit, I quickly grabbed a bag and added it to my basket.

Ok, so while I was excited to tear into the package, it wasn’t in the same way that I might anticipate a creamy chocolate bar or moist cake snack. Instead, I was eager to taste this indescribable king of fruits. What does it taste like? Indeed, it is indescribable. The best I can do is to say that, the freeze dried version anway, tastes like very strong, stale Japanese rice cracker snack mix with a fishy, salty aftertaste.

After doing some research, it seems that the gasses the fruit emits is likely to contribute to the intense flavor. Since there’s no gas in the freeze dried form, I’m guessing it’s much milder than taking a bite out of the fresh, chewy flesh.

I ate one piece and stored the rest away in a sealed bag–if anyone has a hankering, let me know. I don’t intend to finish the bag!

I started off with the soft shell crab sandwich from the Hayes Street Grill stand. The perfectly grilled bread really made this sandwich exquisite–that and small smear of mayo.

And because I’m sucker for spiced, cured pork I picked up the sampler cone from Boccalone. While I love the capacolla and soppressata, I’ve never acquired a taste for guanciale-salt-cured pork jowl.

To finish it off there was an ‘old fashioned’ (chocolate cake with boiled icing) cupcake from Miette.

Had chocolate bomboloni from Boriana. I love chocolate, but I think this would have been better with no filling. The dough, fried and coated in sugar, is tasty, but a little dense. There was just something off about the combination of both the very sweet chocolate and heavy bread.

More on the honey…

After purchasing some local honey I spotted Zack with his portable typewriter. He sells poems-writes them on the spot. I ordered up a poem about honey.

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- CookWise with Shirley Corriher: March 29 – 30